UNION – Plans to build Union a downtown hub of retail, restaurants and residences are less of a dream today.

The long-talked-about Union Town Center is officially a go, Huff Commercial Group brokers Chad E. Dickerson and Ken Holliday said in a Sunday news release.

"Union Town Center gets green light" was the title of the Huff release.

The brokers have started to market the first 22 acres of the 90-acre town plan approved 18 years ago by the city and Boone County.

The land, on the west side of U.S. 42, is along the new section of the nearly complete four-lane Mount Zion Road.

Union Town Center plans call for building a mix of multistory retail, office or residential buildings around the intersection of U.S. 42 and Mount Zion Road.

Dickerson and Holliday announced they were putting the land on the market with "rumored developers in tow."

Dickerson said they were unable to comment on future tenants at this time. Individual developers will eventually talk about their own visions, Dickerson said.

"We do have zoning provisions in place that will focus any development to be consistent with our Town Center plan," Union City Administrator David Plummer said.

The plan calls for building a downtown area for Union to avoid strip-center shopping areas.

The idea is to create a luxury environment for citizens and executive travelers, Dickerson said.

"All along we have envisioned first-class walkability, possibly walking bridges connecting to an outdoor amphitheater to host concerts and other events, as well as welcoming hotelier’s and fresh restaurant concepts," he said.

Bourbon and solar energy?

Dickerson did offer some hints at some preferred tenants.

"Given Northern Kentucky’s recent christening as the 'Gateway To The Bourbon Trail' we might also see a distillery plant roots within the Town Center," he said.

And priority will be given to sustainable designs with some type of clean energy component, Dickerson said.

"So, it is highly possible you will see solar arrays on some or all of the structures within the Union Town Center."

Road widening is key

Drivers are expected to be able to use a four-lane Mount Zion Road by the end of the year, Plummer said.

Construction to widen the two-lane Mount Zion Road from from I-75 to U.S. 42 is still ongoing. Mount Zion Road will meet U.S. 42 in a new alignment further south of the present-day Mount Zion Road.

"This road is one of the largest pieces put in place allowing for the development to happen,” Plummer said.